Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Breastfeeding has been on my mind lately. Not just because I do it all day and night with my 7 month old but because I feel drawn to everything breastfeeding. It holds my interest, which admittedly doesn’t happen very often. Everything about it interests me. The physiological aspects of breastfeeding are interesting, like how your body makes milk, how the milk is perfectly suited for your little one and how the milk can change with your babes needs. That is all scientifically interesting to me but the emotional aspects mostly amaze me.
I think about breastfeeding as I gaze down at my son falling asleep at my breast. I feel completely in love. I’m relaxed and content, thank-you breastfeeding hormones, and I wonder why every mother doesn’t want to feel this way.

Health Canada states under Implications for Practice that some mothers may not exclusively breastfeed to six months for personal and/or social reasons, and they should also be supported to optimize their infant's nutritional well-being. Parents need to be supported and given appropriate information to enable informed decisions to ensure optimal infant nutrition.
Health Canada follows the WHO recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to 2 years and beyond.

I would love to help support women breastfeeding. I understand that breastfeeding is difficult. There is definetly a learning curve for most moms and babes. My first step to help support breastfeeding moms and babes is to become a La Leche Leader (LLL). As a La Leche League leader I will be able to offer support from mother to mother and I will continue learning about breastfeeding. To find out more about LLL or to find a chapter near you, click here. My second step came after reading a blog post recently about the Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project. It gave me inspiration to start the same project in my community. My Breastfeeding Bag Project is in the early stages, I’ll keep you all updated, but has been shown support by local businesses, LLL and international breastfeeding friendly companies as well.

Breastfeeding mother’s need to have support from other women, partners and health providers as both mother and babe learn to breastfeed. I know I will be supporting women in their decision to feed their babes the best possible food available, breast milk. I’m excited to be on this path and can’t wait to see where it leads me.